Tutor
by diazbuckleysworld
Summary: Patrick Hockstetter x Richie Tozier - Patrick needs help with math. Richie is smart and is forced into helping him. Update 6/29 - In honor of Pride month I just want to make it clear that I support everyone and if anyone ever needs anything please feel free to message me. Here or on my Tumblr. I don't mind at all. I have updated this chapter in honor of Pride and I hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter 1 - Patrick Hockstetter

Richie was sitting in class next to Eddie waiting for his teacher to give their math tests back from the week before. Richie was a very gifted student, he even helped the other losers with some of their classes. Richie looked over towards the window only to find Patrick Hockstetter looking back at him. That made him uneasy, the last thing he needed was the Bowers' gang on his case. They caused enough trouble throughout the summer and the last thing Richie wanted was any more trouble.

Ms. Sims walked over and handed him his test and told him that he did a great job. Richie smiled from ear to ear. He was happy that he did well. Eddie showed him his test and he had also passed.

"Thanks for the help Rich." Eddie smiled, "I would have never gotten an A on this without you."

"Sure thing, Eds."

Across the room Ms. Sims was talking to Patrick shaking her head. She did not seem very happy. Patrick looked down at his test and sighed. He grabbed it and crumbled it up. The bell rang and Patrick walked to the trash and threw it out.

"Come on Rich, let's get to lunch."

"I'll be there in a minute." Richie smiled packing his stuff up. He walked to the trash and picked out Patrick's test. He saw the red F on the top of the page and sighed. No wonder Patrick hung out with the Bowers' gang. Richie felt like someone was watching him as he left the room. He didn't realize that Patrick was there.

"Hey loser..." Patrick pushed him.

"Fuck off, dumb ass." Richie spat.

Patrick looked down like he had been hurt by what Richie had said, but Richie was sure that Patrick didn't care what he thought about him. He didn't care what anyone thought, that was just who Patrick was, but still he paused and then looked at Richie with hatred.

"What the fuck did you say?" Patrick said pushing Richie against the locker.

"Look, I have to go to lunch. Can you just leave me alone?" Richie asked.

Before anything further happened, Ms. Sims walked out of her room.

"Put him down."

"I was just playing. I wasn't going to hurt him." Patrick swore.

Richie rolled his eyes and walked off. He was sure that Ms. Sims already escorted Patrick to the principal's office. He sat with the losers and they started talking about their weekend plans when Ms. Sims walked up to Richie.

"Come with me please, Richie."

He followed in silence unsure of what she wanted from him. He walked into her classroom only to find Patrick sitting near her desk.

"Richie, I need your help. I need you to help Mr. Hockstetter with some work for class."

"I don't think that is a good idea. I will tutor anyone else. Hell, I'd tutor everyone in this class except him." Richie ranted.

"Look, I know you two don't get along that is clear, but you will need to learn that people can surprise you sometimes. You just need to give them a chance." Ms. Sims smiled, "I will give you extra credit if you can help him get an A on his midterm. You have plenty of time, a few months in fact so it shouldn't be too difficult."

Richie wanted to scream. It didn't seem like Sims was giving him much of a choice in the matter. Patrick looked at him and sighed.

"Fuck..." Richie said.

"And, Mr. Hockstetter if I see you trying to hurt this boy, I will have Principal Snyder suspend you. We wouldn't want a repeat of last year, now would we?"

"No." Patrick sighed.

Richie laughed remembering the year before. Patrick had been suspended nearly half the year for tormenting Eddie. He had given Eddie a broken nose and he was also spying on girls in the bathroom. The principal just decided it was easier to suspend him because he tried detention but Patrick got into a fight every day.

"You are in good hands Mr. Hockstetter. All you have to do is learn to accept the help." Ms. Sims stated before walking out the door.

"Meet me in the library after school." Richie sighed before walking back to the cafeteria.

The day went by in a blur, leaving Richie feeling exhausted. He didn't really want to help Patrick but he figured if he didn't Ms. Sims would give him a hard time. Richie walked to Bill's locker and told the other losers that he would see him later, and he made his way to the library. He didn't see Patrick when he walked in so he just sat at one of the tables near the back of the library by the window. He figured he could just sit behind the stacks but then Patrick would probably tell Sims that he didn't show on purpose.

Richie took out his math book and set it down on the table. He looked up towards the door expecting to see Patrick, but it was just some kid from his second period class. He looked down at his watch, they only had an hour before the library closed. Richie sighed, maybe he would get lucky and he wouldn't show up at all.

Before he knew it, he heard someone else enter the library and when he looked up, he saw the entire Bowers' gang. Richie knew that all of them being here was not a coincidence and he knew that he was in trouble.

"Relax specs, they are just dropping me off and then leaving." Patrick said sensing his uneasiness.

"I just want to hurt him a little." Bowers' frowned.

"Not here." Patrick said, "I cannot get suspended again. My mom will flip shit."

"Fine, another time then. See ya trashy." Henry smiled moving towards the door.

Richie relaxed a little, but not much because he was still in the presence of Hockstetter. Patrick slid into the seat next to him and pulled out his math book. Richie grabbed his notebook and opened it to the lesson they had covered today.

"So, where should we start?" Richie asked.

"No clue. Figure it out." Patrick sighed.

"Listen asshole, how am I supposed to figure out what you don't know?" Richie said grumpily.

"I don't know any of it." Patrick said tight lipped.

"Like anything? Nothing that we have been covering? How did you even get into this grade?"

"Fuck you Tozier." Patrick said grabbing a fist full of Richie's shirt.

"Ok, shit...relax." Richie said grabbing his wrist, "We will start from the first class we had with Ms. Sims. Does that sound good?"

Patrick looked down at him. He didn't want to be here and the fact that he had to ask a loser for help was really weighing on him. Patrick wasn't stupid, but he never put enough effort into anything to care. School was not his strong point, the only one of his friends who was good at any of it was Vic. He even offered to help Patrick at one point, but he declined because he was around the other guys. He figured he should just take Richie's help since he was being forced into it anyway.

"Fine." Patrick said falling back into his seat.

Richie sighed and started flipping through his notebook to the beginning of the class. He knew that he would need to start Patrick off with the basics, but he wasn't sure exactly what Patrick knew and what he didn't.

"What's two plus two?" Richie asked.

"Really? You think I'm that much of an idiot?" Patrick asked defensively, but after seeing Richie's face he knew that he must have thought he was pretty dumb, "It's four. You wanna ask me what ten times five is too?"

"Well..."

"Asshole I know basic math if that is what you're getting at. I just don't get it when it comes to equations and stuff. Is that really my fault?" Patrick asked.

"Well if you stopped picking on me and my friends then maybe you could concentrate on your studies." Richie snarked.

Patrick sighed unsure of what to say next. He waited for Richie to give any indication if he was going to continue or if they should just start. Richie groaned.

"Fine. Let's start with a few of the exercises that Ms. Sims put on the board a few classes into this year. Just try them and I will help you at the end if you're not sure." Richie stated.

"Ok..." Patrick stated.

He watched as Richie wrote down three problems. Patrick wasn't sure if he was going to be able to do them but he figured he could try. The first one wasn't too difficult but the other two were harder and he didn't know if he was going to be able to do them. He looked over at Richie who had taken out some homework to work on while he did the problems. Patrick watched him chewing on his pencil and began to wonder what Richie really thought of him. Usually he didn't care what people thought but he began to realize that he did not like the idea of Richie thinking that he was a complete moron.

"Ya know I'm not dumb. I know things, school is just not my thing. Well...math isn't really my thing, but I am really good at history." Patrick finished lamely.

"Um...okay." Richie stated looking up from his homework, "Why..."

"You think I'm dumb..."

Richie looked at him, really looked at him. He didn't know why Patrick cared if he thought he was dumb or not. Patrick didn't care what anyone thought or at least that is what Richie always assumed. Richie knew that he probably shouldn't have said anything, but he couldn't stop himself.

"I don't think...I know you're dumb."

Patrick looked at him like he was going to scream or punch him, but instead he threw the pencil down and walked out of the library. Richie sighed, he knew he had a bad mouth but he couldn't always control it like people thought. He kind of felt bad for Patrick. He was also confused as to why Patrick cared what he thought.


	2. Chapter 2 - Jealous

The next day Richie walked to school alone because Eddie was sick. He was thinking about what happened with Patrick yesterday. He still felt bad because of what he said. Richie wasn't exactly sure why because he and Patrick were enemies, but he still felt like he shouldn't have said anything. As he walked towards the front of the school, he saw Patrick near the tree smoking a cigarette. Richie decided he should try to make things right between them. He thought that maybe Patrick would keep Bowers off his back if he helped him get through this math class.

"Hey..." Richie said when he came face to face with Patrick.

"What do you want?"

"Let's try to work on more math after school. We can go to my house." Richie offered.

"Fine." Patrick said stomping out his cigarette and walking past Richie to go into the school.

Richie wasn't sure why he offered to study at his house but he figured they would have more time and he hoped that being at home would make him say fewer stupid things. He thought that being comfortable would help him just relax and hopefully help Patrick learn something.

The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly. When Richie walked out front with the rest of the losers, he saw Patrick standing next to the same tree but he was not alone. Vic Criss was with him. The only good thing was that Henry Bowers was nowhere to be found. Vic never really bothered with them as long as Henry wasn't around. He was the least imposing of the group, and Richie credited that to the fact that he had a brain.

He had told the other losers about his deal with Sims, just in case they saw him around Patrick. He didn't want them asking questions or wondering why he couldn't hang out. He made his way over to where Vic and Patrick were standing.

"Ready?" Richie asked.

"No. I have to wait for one more thing." Patrick smiled.

"Oh...ok." Richie stated wondering what he could possibly need to wait for.

"Hey loser..." Bowers' said from behind him.

Richie turned around quickly expecting the worst. Patrick and Vic laughed.

"Relax Trashy, just giving Patrick a book." Bowers said pushing him out of the way.

"Fuck off asshole."

Patrick looked over at Vic no longer laughing. Richie was in for it now and they all knew it.

"What the fuck did you say?" Henry yelled.

Patrick put his hand on Henry's shoulder stopping him where he stood.

"I'll catch you guys later. I need to study." Patrick sighed pushing Richie towards the parking lot, "Let's go before that mouth of yours gets you in anymore trouble."

Richie walked silently towards his house. He wondered if Patrick knew exactly where he lived. He always figured the Bowers' gang knew only because they did live in a small town after all. Richie even knew that Patrick lived just off the railroad tracks near the woods. He also knew where the others lived as well, it wasn't that hard to find out. Richie was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't realize he was walking past his house until Patrick spoke up.

"Yo, asshole...isn't this your house?" Patrick asked.

"Shit. Yeah." Richie said looking up.

He walked up the drive with Patrick following shortly behind. As he walked through the front door, he was greeted with the smell of chocolate chip cookies, his mom must have been baking.

"Hi honey, oh who's your friend?"

"Hey, uh this is Patrick. We are gonna study." Richie stated calmly walking to the kitchen to grab some cookies and sodas from the fridge.

"Oh, nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, ma'am." Patrick said.

Richie almost choked hearing him call his mother ma'am. He had never heard him talk politely to anyone, not even the teachers at school. He grabbed Patrick's hand and headed upstairs yelling bye to his mom. Once they were upstairs Richie gave him the soda and some cookies.

"I almost shit myself. I don't think I have ever heard you be nice to anyone before, let alone call them ma'am." Richie laughed taking a bite of his cookie.

"Fuck you." Patrick laughed, "I can be a nice person."

"To who?" Richie looked shocked.

"Whatever Tozier, let's get this over with."

They studied for about an hour or so before his mom asked if Patrick was going to stay for dinner. It seemed very strange having Patrick in his house being nice to his mom. When his dad got home, he and Patrick even talked about sports. Richie was highly surprised that Patrick was actually being nice to them. Once back upstairs after a twenty-minute break Richie sighed.

"Ok who are you and what have you done with Hockstetter?"

"Funny." Patrick started, "Ya know you're a real comedian."

Patrick pushed him and Richie reciprocated. Both boys were pushing and shoving each other. They both laughed until they couldn't any longer. Before they knew it, they were wrestling and they landed on Richie's bed. Richie laughed a little more and looked up at Patrick who was now on top of him. Patrick seemed uncomfortable, but he didn't pull away. He looked at Richie really looked at him and what surprised him more than anything was that he was actually pretty cute. Patrick looked past the nerd glasses and really saw him. Wrapped up in the moment Patrick took off his glasses and stared.

"Uh...I can't see." Richie said breaking the silence.

"You don't need to." Patrick stated breathlessly.

Patrick looked at all of Richie's features. He stared shamelessly like he has never stared at anyone before. Patrick was memorizing ever feature of Richie's face when they heard his dad yell that it was dinner time. Patrick removed himself from Richie blushing a little as he did so. He handed Richie his glasses and cleared his throat.

"Let's go." Richie stated walking past him towards the door.

After dinner Patrick went to grab his stuff from Richie's room. Neither boy spoke of what had happened between them.

"So, when do you wanna study again?" Patrick stated, "Tomorrow?"

"Uh, no I have plans." Richie stated which was a lie. Richie wasn't sure studying tomorrow was a good idea. He needed to put distance between him and Patrick. That weird moment between them had Richie worried. They were enemies and it's not like Richie is even into boys.

"Oh, ok." Patrick sighed, "Well, what about the weekend...maybe Saturday?"

"Sure...yeah."

"Here... call me and let me know what time on Saturday." Patrick handed him a piece of paper.

Patrick walked out after that without so much as a goodbye. Richie wasn't sure what any of this meant or why he even had that moment with Patrick. He chalked it up to him being nice to him and his family. Little did he know this was only the beginning.

The next day at school Richie was hanging out with the losers during lunch when he felt eyes on him. Patrick was staring at him from a few tables away, but he never approached him or said anything. Richie had forgotten it by the end of the day,

"You're coming over right?" Eddie asked him while they were at their lockers packing their stuff.

"Yeah Eds." Richie replied look up to see Patrick standing behind Eddie, "Can I help you?"

Eddie turned around quickly expecting to see Bowers.

"Plans, huh?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah..." Richie stated.

"What time do you wanna study on Saturday?" Patrick asked.

"I don't know. I have to figure it out."

"Well...call me when you do." Patrick sighed, "See ya losers."

As Patrick walked away, he slapped the books out of Eddie's hands smiling.

"Asshole." Eddie sighed.

Richie watched him pick up his books.

"I'll be back."

"Chee, let it go. He is an asshole, but it's fine."

"No, it's not Eds." Richie turned and walked away.

Richie followed Patrick out the front doors all the way to the Bowers' gang.

"What the fuck was that?" Richie yelled at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Why did you do that to Eddie?" Richie asked.

"Because he is a loser. You are too, so I'd watch yourself."

Richie pushed Patrick. He was so mad he could punch him in the face. Patrick was acting like a jealous girlfriend, all because he wanted to hang out with Eddie today instead of tutoring him. Eddie ran up to Richie.

"Chee, stop!" Eddie cried breathlessly.

Upon hearing the nickname Richie looked at him and frowned, but the nickname had a different effect on Patrick. He seemed to become agitated really fast. He looked at them with a grimace.

"Aw, look the queers have cute nicknames for each other." Patrick said earning laughs from the other guys.

Richie looked at him and, in that moment, he knew that Patrick was just being a jealous asshole.

"What's even funnier is that Eddie isn't the one acting like a jealous prick!" Richie yelled, "You can be pissed because I don't want to tutor you today, but the fact is I don't hang out with you by choice. Eddie is my friend. I'm literally helping you because I have to. Forget studying, I've decided I don't care what Sims will do to me. You're an asshole."

Patrick was so shocked that he just stood there unable to do anything else. He knew Richie was right. He knew that he acted like an asshole and now everyone knew it. Patrick didn't know what to do to make this right. He did get jealous from hearing the nickname and if he was honest, he really was jealous of their relationship because him and Eddie were inseparable. From as far back as Patrick could remember he had always seen them together. Patrick walked away from the other guys ignore their comments, but Vic knew something was wrong.

"Is he right? Are you jealous?" he asked Patrick.

"Fuck off."

"Why can't you just talk to me?" Vic asked, "Look, if you like Richie..."

"I can't like him. It cannot happen."

"Who says?" Vic stated, "You know you can't help it right?"

"Come on Vic. You know I can't. Henry would freak out if he thought..."

"If he thought what? That you and Richie were together." Vic said, "Honestly Patrick who cares what Henry thinks. He is never getting out of this town and you're smarter than that."

"Yeah sure..."

"You are. Want some advice?"

"Sure."

"Talk to him." Vic sighed, "And fuck everyone else. Also, he and Eddie aren't together you know. They are just really close."

"Oh yeah how do you know?"

"I hear a lot." Vic smiled, "Besides I'm the smart one, remember."

He and Patrick laughed. Patrick thought that Vic was right, he should talk to Richie. He needed to, even if it was just to say he was sorry. He had no right to be jealous anyway even if he and Eddie were a couple. Patrick was a nobody in Richie's life. He knew he meant nothing to him. There were more important people in Richie's life, people who were worth it.

Patrick felt an ache in his chest that he had never felt before. He hated the feeling. The feeling of being helpless and not fully understanding his feelings.


	3. Chapter 3 -Feelings

Richie had spent the weekend at Eddie's house the week he and Patrick had their fight. Richie didn't mean to out him in front of the entire Bowers gang but Patrick shouldn't have messed with Eddie. If Richie was honest with himself, he had developed a little crush on his friend. Richie knew it wouldn't go anywhere because Eddie was in denial and also worried about a crazy amount of other things, so he didn't need to worry about having a boyfriend too.

Richie was okay with the way things were, he figured when he got older and the losers were in New York he and Eddie would get together. He didn't want to pressure Eddie. Richie knew he would just have to wait. Richie left for his house around noon on Sunday but when he got home, he was not expecting the scene unfolding in his kitchen. At the table his mom sat with Patrick laughing at something he said.

"What the fuck?"

"Oh, Richie. Patrick came to see you but you weren't home. We got to talking and he was telling me what a wonderful job you were doing with tutoring him"

Richie looked from his mother to Patrick and groaned. He moved to grab a soda from the fridge and walked up the stairs, expecting Patrick to follow.

"Well, it was nice talking to Mrs. Tozier. I have to study now, but it was great seeing you again."

Patrick stated moving up towards Richie's bedroom. As soon as Patrick closed the door Richie pushed him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

"Calm down. Look, I'm sorry okay. I shouldn't have messed with your...friend."

Richie looked at him. The way Patrick hesitated had him a little uneasy. He must have figured out how he felt about Eddie. Maybe he didn't realize it was one sided.

"No, you shouldn't have." Richie sighed, "Did you bring your math book?"

Patrick smiled, "I really am sorry."

After the boys made up, they fell into the rhythm they had before when Patrick first visited the Tozier residence. The only difference was there was no weird chemistry between them like there had been that night. Richie was glad because he could concentrate better without the strange atmosphere.

After about an hour of studying Richie went down to grab more snacks from the fridge. When he returned, he found Patrick in his bed with his shoes off. Richie was going to say something but he didn't really think it was a big deal. He moved towards the other side of the bed and handed Patrick a soda.

"So, I tried these problems while you were gone. Can you check them for me?"

"Sure." Richie said laying down next to him.

Richie knew that it was going to be tight with him and Patrick on him bed but what he didn't realize was that he would be practically on top of him. As if sensing his uneasiness Patrick turned on his side giving Richie a little more room. Richie smiled at him and muttered a thanks. He began to look over the problems when he felt Patrick's foot rub against him,

Richie looked up at him.

Patrick couldn't make eye contact at all. He was looking around the room at everything but Richie. Richie smiled to himself and went back to the matter at hand. A few minutes passed and then Richie felt Patrick lean on top of his shoulder.

"So, what do you think?" Patrick whispered in his ear. Richie shivered.

"It's fine." He said breathlessly.

Richie wasn't sure when it happened but the atmosphere between them had changed. Patrick moved closer to Richie and he froze. Richie wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss Patrick. He was confused, he liked Eddie. He always had, but he would deny it to anyone including the other losers. Patrick was a whole other ball game. Patrick was supposed to be his enemy. He was part of the Bowers gang, and yet here they were. Richie shivered thinking about what Patrick might do next, but at that moment Patrick moved back.

"I should go." he cleared his throat, "thanks."

After that he was down the stairs and out the door before Richie's brain even caught up. He sighed and laid back down. He started thinking about all the little moments that happened between them. If he really thought back, he could remember countless moments like this. Countless moments where Patrick was just a little too close or too touchy. He always thought it was because he loved to torment him, but now that Richie thought about it maybe there was more to the story.

The next day Patrick pulled Vic aside during lunch so they could go smoke.

"I almost kissed Richie." he sighed.

"Well, I was gonna ask if you talked to him but I assume you did."

"Fuck you, ya know this is your fault. You told me to talk to him." Patrick took a drag of his cig, "I don't know what to do man. I don't want to kiss him."

"You don't?" Vic asked.

"No!" Patrick sighed, "Regardless of what you say I'm pretty sure he is in love with Eddie. I know you don't think so, but you should have seen him when I apologized. He looked like he would do anything for him."

"So, you're upset he likes Eddie and not you?"

"I don't know how he feels about me. I may never know."

"Well, you aren't going to if you keep moping. Why not kiss him?" Vic stated firmly, "Never know. He may kiss you back."

With that Vic rose from his spot in the grass and walked towards the school. Patrick took a few more puffs from his cig before he decided to walk around and clear his head. He had been avoiding Richie all day. He had been going to class different ways and he skipped his math class just so he wouldn't have to see him. Simms would just have to deal with his absence. Patrick thought about skipping all of her classes and just failing, but he figured she'd call his parents. That's the last thing he wanted. He honestly just wanted to leave school. Henry wanted to beat up the losers after school but Patrick didn't want to be anywhere near Richie right now. He wasn't sure what would happen if he skipped out on this though. Henry has actually had it out for the trashmouth. He has been dying to kick his ass ever since they started their tutoring.

He even explained to Henry that he couldn't get caught messing with Richie otherwise Simms would suspend him. Patrick wasn't sure what he was going to do. In the end he just went home. After a few hours there was a knock on the door. Patrick walked to the front door and found Richie panting and out of breath.

"What's up?" Patrick asked.

Richie looked up and Patrick saw the beginning of a bruise forming around his left eye.

"What the fuck happened?" Patrick asked worriedly cupping Richie's face.

"B-Bowers." Richie panted.

Patrick groaned. He knew he should have stayed. Maybe he wouldn't have messed with Richie. He put his arm around him and moved him inside. Once inside Patrick lifted him up on the counter grabbing some ice from the freezer.

"I didn't know where else to go."

"It's fine." Patrick replied putting ice on his eye, "Where are your glasses?"

"Broken."

Patrick moved away, but Richie grabbed his hand.

"Can you just stay?" Richie asked.

Patrick turned back and gave him a hug. Richie collapsed into him feeling sleepy. Patrick lifted him up and walked to his room. Richie subconsciously grabbed him around the neck. Patrick sighed putting Richie down on his bed. He moved to bring the blanket over him before he felt Richie's hand again.

"Stay." he said sleepily.


End file.
